Olympic Handball participation growing on the island of Ireland

Barcelona have just lifted the Champions League; Denmark currently holds the title of an international tournament; and a Dublin side lifted the league title in Ireland. 

No, the year is not 1992. 

And the sport is not football. 

It is the present day, and we are looking upon the sport of Olympic Handball.

The sport receives renewed interest every four years by people on the islands of Britain and Ireland. 

“I tried to watch the final, and even BBC iPlayer hadn’t shown it. But I suppose it is because it is not popular here,” said Eugene McKenna, Development Officer for the Irish Olympic Handball Association Northern Ireland.

Yet, eyes were glued to the Olympic final as Denmark defeated Germany 39-26 in Paris this summer to secure their second ever Olympic gold medal in the sport.

The sport is beloved in countries throughout Europe, including Spain, France, Germany, and Denmark.

But the sport has struggled to take off in Ireland. 

McKenna is determined to change this. 

He said: “I’d love to set up a youth academy. In a similar fashion to rugby and Gaelic with development squads, competing against other development squads. Having provinces compete against each other to develop the sport and our players. 

“The plan would have an U15 side that in five years of competing and training with each other at underage in good matches they would have a good level, and when they are promoted to the Irish side at senior level we have a chance of competing internationally.

“The aim is to try and establish the Irish team, as we had one pre-Covid. They did compete internationally in development competitions and fixtures.

“That is the plan again, but the only way to do that is to get the quality of players; currently they are ok in Ireland, but they aren’t ready to step up to international level.”

Prior to Covid the Irish team would play at the developmental level internationally, where they would compete against other Tier Two nations and the development sides of the elite nations.

McKenna has put his focus on underage and school kids in particular, as he exposes them to the sport reminiscent of indoor football but using your hands.

Signs have been encouraging since he started his role three years ago. 

He said: “This year we had a primary school from the North compete in the school competition for the first time. Two schools, St. Patricks Portrush and St. Patricks Holywood, went down to the All-Ireland finals; they won their U11 and U13 Ulster competitions, and they stayed overnight in Limerick for the finals.

“They had a great experience reaching the semi-finals. 

“From that, we have had a few of the children from St. Patricks Holywood sign up for the junior team. 

“So working with children at primary and secondary school, we are getting the sport into them younger, same as Gaelic, rugby, and football. We want it to be another option.”

Like most sports however, funding is an issue. 

Last year, Sport NI provided some much-needed financial support, with more expected for the upcoming year, but more is needed to help further growth, as only through further sponsors and funding will this be achieved.

He said: “The day-to-day is working with primary and secondary schools, but predominantly since I’ve been involved, it has been primary. It is harder to get into secondary schools as they don’t have the funding unless we were doing free sessions, and unfortunately we are not a big enough organisation to do that; we aren’t the GAA. 

“Funding and sponsors are always sought. The funding helps massively, as we have been able to fund coaching courses, do a lot more programmes and develop our staff too.”

Ireland currently has eight senior men’s teams, five in Dublin, two in Cork, and Queen's University Belfast.

While qualification for the Champions League is a far way off, expansion of the league is possible, but McKenna has had stumbling blocks after failing to reestablish Coleraine’s club. 

But as children are exposed to the sport through social media like TikTok and Instagram, McKenna is optimistic about the future of Olympic Handball. 

He said: “You see the children coming to summer camps and others in schools having seen videos on socials. 

“Players will be using glue for their hands to help in the catching of the ball. 

“Kids come up to me asking if I have any for their hands when we do taster sessions; it is lovely to see their excitement. 

“Like in football and Gaelic, the kids see the athletes and want to copy. It is encouraging that they are seeing more of the sport.”

McKenna said that schools interested in taster sessions should contact Olympic Handball Ireland, with the information available on their website.